International Metalworking Companies

About: International Metalworking Companies is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Combustion & Random walk. The organization has 10 authors who have published 10 publications receiving 287 citations.

Preparation and properties of SiO2 from rice hulls

Abstract: Dry rice hull contains 13-29wt% inorganic matter depending on the species, climate and geographic location. The inorganic matter is composed of silica (87-97wt%) with small amounts of alkali and other trace elements. Properties of ash obtained by combustion of between 400° and 1500°C were investigated. The SiO2 in the rice hull was localized in the outer and inner epidermis of rice hull. The SiO2 in rice hull ash formed by combustion below 800°C of rice hull powder with a particle size below 152μm was amorphous. Particles of the ash having an average diameter of 20μm were aggregates of small particles with a diameter of 2-5μm. At combustion temperatures above 900°C, the SiO2 in rice hull ash consisted of cristobalite and a small amount of tridymite. The surface of ash particles melted and the particles bonded to each other. The particle size was 40-60μm. It was found that potassium contained in the rice hull ash caused surface melting of SiO2 particles and accelerated the crystallization of amorphous SiO2 to cristobalite.

The effect of progressive hypoxia on school structure and dynamics in Atlantic herring Clupea harengus

Abstract: The effect of progressive hypoxia on the structure and dynamics of herring (Clupea harengus) schools in laboratory conditions was investigated. The length, width and depth of schools of about 20 individuals were measured from video recordings to test the hypothesis that during hypoxia fish schools change their shape and volume. School shape (calculated as the ratios of length/depth, width/depth and length/width) did not change significantly during hypoxia. School length, width, depth, area and volume were all significantly increased at 20% oxygen saturation. Volume, area and width were more sensitive to hypoxia; volume and width were also increased at 25% and area at 30% oxygen saturation. The degree of position changing (shuffling) of individuals within the school was also analysed. Shuffling in normoxia was observed to occur largely through ‘O-turn’ manoeuvres, a 360° turn executed laterally to the school that allowed fishes in the front to move to the back. O-turn frequency during normoxia was 0.69 O-turns fish 1 min 1 but significantly decreased with hypoxia to 0.37 O-turns fish 1 min 1 at 30% oxygen saturation. Shuffling was also investigated by measuring the persistence time of individual herring in leading positions (i.e. the first half of the school). No significant changes occurred during hypoxia, indicating that the decrease in O-turn frequency does not affect shuffling rate during hypoxia, and that position shuffling in hypoxic conditions is mainly due to overtaking or falling back by individual fishes. School integrity and positional dynamics are the outcome of trade-offs among a number of biotic factors, such as food, predator defence, mating behaviour and various physical factors that may impose certain limits. Among these, our results indicate that oxygen level modulates schooling behaviour. Oxygen alters whole-school parameters at oxygen saturation values that can be encountered by herring in the field, indicating that oxygen availability is an important factor in the trade-offs that determine school volume. An increase in school volume in the wild may increase the oxygen available to each individual. However, shuffling rate is not affected by hypoxia, indicating that the internal dynamics of positioning is the result of the balance of other factors, for example related to the nutritional state of each individual fish as suggested by previous studies.

Improving design for recycling – Application to composites

Abstract: The use of composite material increases. End of life regulations, material consumption reductions or restrictions, ask engineers about their potential use. Innovative recycling solutions arise that recover efficiently carbon fibres. This paper explores the design for composites recycling issue. Recycler becomes a new knowledge expert for the designer. It is necessary to analyze their information shares and exchanges. The recycler is an end of life facilitator. He is also the second life material user and can ask for material evolutions. The collaboration must be improved using knowledge performance indicators. These discussions will be enlightened by examples from carbon recycling experiments.

eIF3a is over-expressed in urinary bladder cancer and influences its phenotype independent of translation initiation

Abstract: The eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 3a, the largest subunit of the eIF3 complex, is a key functional entity in ribosome establishment and translation initiation. In the past, aberrant eIF3a expression has been linked to the pathology of various cancer types but, so far, its expression has not been investigated in transitional cell carcinomas. Here, we investigated the impact of eIF3 expression on urinary bladder cancer (UBC) cell characteristics and UBC patient survival. eIF3a expression was reduced through inducible knockdown in the UBC-derived cell lines RT112, T24, 5637 and HT1197. As a consequence of eIF3a down-regulation, UBC cell proliferation, clonogenic potential and motility were found to be decreased and, concordantly, UBC tumour cell growth rates were found to be impaired in xenotransplanted mice. Polysomal profiling revealed that reduced eIF3a levels increased the abundance of 80S ribosomes, rather than impairing translation initiation. Microarray-based gene expression and ontology analyses revealed broad effects of eIF3a knockdown on the transcriptome. Analysis of eIF3a expression in primary formalin-fixed paraffin embedded UBC samples of 198 patients revealed that eIF3a up-regulation corresponds to tumour grade and that high eIF3a expression corresponds to longer overall survival rates of patients with low grade tumours. From our results we conclude that eIF3a expression may have a profound effect on the UBC phenotype and, in addition, may serve as a prognostic marker for low grade UBCs.

The Human‐Environment Dialog in Award‐winning Children’s Picture Books*

Abstract: Picture books often play an important role in childhood socialization. Given the seriousness of environmental problems, we ask how natural, modified, and built environments have been portrayed in children’s books. To answer this question, we analyze the 296 books receiving Caldecott awards from 1938 to 2008. Two possibilities are explored with respect to content change. Growing concern about critical environmental problems, such as decline in biodiversity and deforestation, may have led to an increase in illustrations and stories about wild animals and the natural environment. Alternatively, the increasing isolation of people from the natural world may have resulted in a decline in the perceived relevance of these environmental issues and resulted in fewer stories and depictions. Our findings support the isolation hypothesis. There have been significant declines in depictions of natural environments and animals while built environments have become much more common. These findings suggest that today’s generation of children are not being socialized, at least through this source, toward an understanding and appreciation of the natural world and the place of humans within it.